South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth is the first African and only the second "space tourist" to enter space on April 25, 2002. As for all of space officials and tourists, they say it is the next wave for funding and the future for space programs. Overall it’s said that it’s the space tourism that will push space development, new vehicles, better fuel sources and move even further into the solar system.

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Just during this year, on Oct. 4th, space race team, “SpaceShipOne”, were the first to win a $10 million X-prize for creating a self-funded several manned space ship that can fly into space and back, twice every other week. Also, just a few days before this amazing feat was completed, Billionaire, Richard Branson, now the host of a new reality show to announced his latest company, “Virgin Galactic”, which will handle the first commercial space flights for tourism. "It's going to be a very rich interplay between commercial space flight, private space flight and a public exploration into the solar system for the greater good of humanity," he said. Within two years, Branson believes he could start sending up tourists for around $20 million at first, but soon to lower the prices. Shuttleworth would not tell the media the actual price he paid to go up into space, but it was estimated near $20 million.
The new Space Age Race has already begun. More than 10 countries are competing to fly people into space, as a tourism setting. Even more than that many were competing for the X-prize to future fund themselves to create better, more efficient ways of sending people up into space and back again as safely as possible. We’ve only sent the first real crafts to commence such a thing. Yet, many, many more are expected to create a lot more vehicles in the future. Not just to go to the moon, but better yet, Mars, other moons even beyond our solar system. The growth of our space technology will never end, as long as humans are alive.

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